In his first book, the creator of the award-winning podcast Hardcore History looks to some of humanity's most apocalyptic moments to understand the challenges of our future. Do tough times create tougher people?

Can humanity handle the power of its weapons without destroying itself? Will human technology or capabilities ever peak or regress? Why, since the dawn of time, has it always seemed as though death and destruction is waiting just around the corner?In The End is Always Near, Dan Carlin connects the past and future in fascinating and colourful ways, exploring a question that has hung over humanity like the Sword of Damocles from the collapse of the Bronze Age to the nuclear era - that of human survival.

Combining his trademark mix of storytelling, history, and thought experiments, Carlin forces us to consider what sounds like fantasy: that we might suffer the same fate as all previous civilisations. Will our world ever become a ruin for future archaeologists to dig up and explore?

This thrillingly expansive and entertaining book will make you look at the past - and future - in a completely different way.